Successful summer: how to blend work and the kids

Are you looking forward to long, lazy days in the garden with the kids, and lots of fun day trips to the beach or to Cliveden? Or are you starting to fret how you're going to juggle your work, life and the children over the holidays? Can you feel your heart rate soar just at the thought? Don't tear your hair out, you can make it work.

I spoke to Anna Rasmussen, Founder of the Open Blend Method (who is also a busy Cookham mum) to get her advice on how we can achieve a successful balance – she has even come up with an exercise for you all to do – to enable you to have a wonderful summer.

The term ‘work life balance’ implies a precarious balancing act. "It’s a tired notion suggesting our work and life exist in opposition to each other, and managing this seesaw can be exhausting and demotivating," says Anna. "In actual fact, our commitments are not separate, they come together and influence each other, in short, they blend."

The concept of work life blend highlights the reality that work is impacted by life and life is impacted by work. And never more so than during the school holidays! Anna says that acknowledging, and respecting, that our life and our work blend together is empowering. "Get the blend right and performance improves," she adds.

So here's a simple exercise, in five easy steps, for you all to try to create your unique work/life blend this summer:

Step 1. Imagine that everything is running smoothly in your life and you're having the best summer ever. You are being highly effective at work, highly effective at home, you are happy and have a sense of being on top of everything. What is contributing to that? Take some time to think about this. It is important. You need to identify eight contributing factors and write them down.

Step 2. Score each factor with 0–10. 10 being fully fulfilled. Complete this on all eight factors. This total score will give you your CURRENT BLEND.

Step 3. Score each factor again based on where it needs to be for you to feel you can reach your potential. The total score will create your TARGET BLEND.

Step 4. Create actions to move yourself from your CURRENT SCORE to your TARGET SCORE in each case.

Step 5. Going forwards, revisit this exercise monthly to re-score your current blend and create new actions.

Feeling a little more in control now you have it all laid out in front of you? That's good, now go and get an ice cream for you and the kids – you deserve one.

For more information, email hello@openblendmethod.co.uk or visit www.openblendmethod.co.uk